Connecticut Post seeks to recount Bridgeport votes

Published 10:21 pm, Friday, November 19, 2010

BRIDGEPORT -- The Connecticut Post announced Friday its intention to conduct a full and open recount of all of the Bridgeport ballots cast for governor in the Nov. 2 election.

The recount would serve as the first audit of the city's disputed voting totals, which were submitted to the secretary of the state's office on Nov. 5.

The city's handling of Election Day has attracted widespread criticism in the past two weeks, most recently when city attorneys on Monday refused to allow the secretary of the state's office to recount the ballots itself.

"We think the people of Bridgeport -- and Connecticut -- deserve a clear accounting of the city's vote for governor on Nov. 2," said Tom Baden, Connecticut Post editor. "We've asked the voter registrars and the city attorney's office, under the provisions of the state's Freedom of Information law, to make all ballots available to us for an impartial and open recount."

City Attorney Mark Anastasi responded Friday that his preliminary review of election law indicates the ballots should be sealed until Monday, Nov. 22. He said he planned to confer with Bridgeport Democratic Registrar Santa Ayala and Republican Registrar Joseph Borges on Monday, and expected to work out a process to make the ballots available to the newspaper "if appropriate."

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Baden and David McCumber, editorial director for Hearst Connecticut Media, which owns the Connecticut Post and The New-Times, said Friday they have been reviewing how a consortium of newspapers conducted a recount of decertified presidential ballots in the 2000 Florida presidential election. The editors added that they were in discussion with the Connecticut League of Women Voters about recount methodology.

The Post filed an earlier Freedom of Information request with the city on Nov. 9, asking how many photocopied ballots were created on Election Day, and when the decision to photocopy ballots was made. The city declined to answer those and other questions, stating that it is only required to provide copies of all non-exempt documents.

Meanwhile, a full recount could potentially answer broader questions, such as how many total photocopied ballots were cast and from which polling station each of those ballots came, as well as how accurate the final moderator's report was.

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City stance
City Attorney Mark Anastasi told the Connecticut Post that he planned to confer with Democratic Registrar Santa Ayala and Republican Registrar Joseph Borges to work out a process to make the ballots available to the newspaper "if appropriate."

The Election Day troubles started on Nov. 2 when most of the city's 25 polling stations ran out of ballots. Bridgeport's voting registrars had ordered only 21,000 paper ballots for the city's more than 68,000 registered voters.

Connecticut Republicans also have filed requests with registrars across the state to get access to ballot material.